Research Projects
Research Projects
Research Projects
Research in the Department of Sport and Movement is mostly application-orientated and interdisciplinary. We work with the German Handball Federation, the German Table Tennis Federation, the German Curling Association and the Queensland Academy of Sport, among others. In interdisciplinary research, we cooperate with Oldenburg colleagues from the fields of psychology, education and geriatrics. We also cooperate with other international and national research groups, including the departments of Prof Joe Baker (University of Toronto, Canada), Prof Nick Wattie (Ontario Tech University, Canada) and Prof Karen Zentgraf (Goethe University Frankfurt). You can find more detailed information on current research projects and externally funded projects at the bottom of this page. If you are interested in co-operating with us, please contact us.
Diagnostics and anticipation training for handball goalkeepers
The timely and correct anticipation of an opponent's action based on (movement) information available before the ball flies is a central component of goalkeeper tactics and an essential prerequisite for outstanding defensive performances by handball goalkeepers. The anticipatory requirements found at the national and international top level of the adult game pose a major challenge, especially for junior goalkeepers in the transition to the adult game.
The aim of this project, which is funded by the Federal Institute of Sports Science (duration April 2021 to March 2023), is to diagnose the defensive tactical behaviour of handball goalkeepers - and in particular their anticipation performance - and to improve it through supplementary training measures in order to reduce the gap between the perceptual-cognitive requirements of junior and adult goalkeepers. The project is being carried out in co-operation with the German Handball Federation.
Project partners:
- Department of Sport and Exercise (Prof. Dr Jörg Schorer, PD Dr Florian Loffing, Kim Huesmann)
- Department of Sport and Training (Prof Dr Dirk Büsch)
- German Handball Federation
Project funding by the Federal Institute for Sports Science (ZMVI4-070716/21-23)
Contact person: Kim Huesmann
Technical skills in talent research in sport
In the last few decades, an increasing number of talent identification and development (TID) programs in sports have been installed by professional sports clubs, commercial agencies and national governing institutions. All have the goal of identifying talented young athletes as early as possible in the hope of laying the foundations for superior senior performance and success in the long term. Undoubtedly, ‘talent’ as well as high level performance in most sports requires a range of perceptual, cognitive, psychological, tactical and technical skills. In particular, technical skills seem to be essential given the highly demanding and specialized proficiencies required for high quality performance in various sports even during early phases of development.
This project investigates the role of sport-specific technical skills in the context of talent science in various sports. The focus is to further understand technical skills’ crucial role within TID activities and to fathom the potential of so far sparingly applied biomechanical assessment methods. Here, innovative and new methods (e.g. Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) or markerless motion analysis) will be applied and tested. In the end, the gained knowledge and findings will be of use for the scientific talent field as well as the applied sports.
Contact: Till Koopmann